Israel rescues 4 hostages in Gaza as Hamas says over 200 Palestinians killed in assault
- The four, kidnapped during Hamas’ deadly raid on October 7, have been taken to hospital for medical checks and are said to be in good health
Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October in a raid in Gaza on Saturday while more than 200 Palestinians were killed in air strikes in the same area, according to Hamas officials, in one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults of the war.
It was not immediately clear if the hostage rescue and the Israeli air assault were part of the same operation but both took place in central Gaza’s al-Nuseirat, a densely built-up and often embattled area in the eight-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian territory’s ruling Islamist group.
An Israeli military spokesman said the hostage rescue operation unfolded under fire in the heart of a residential neighbourhood, where he said Hamas had been hiding captives among Gaza civilians under guard by armed militants.
Israeli forces returned fire, including with air strikes, added the spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. An Israeli special forces commander was killed during the operation, a police statement said.
Israel named the rescued hostages as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. They were taken to hospital for medical checks and were in good health, the military said.
They were all kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the deadly raid by Hamas-led Palestinian militants on Israeli towns and villages near Gaza on October 7, which precipitated the devastating war in the Hamas-run enclave.